21 July 2015

Insert introduction here.

Du Blonde - Hunter
Another one from the acclaimed album Welcome Back To Milk by the artist formerly known as Beth Jeans Houghton.

Richard Hawley - Which Way
New from the Sheffield troubadour off the forthcoming LP Hollow Meadows which is out in September. Classic Hawley.

I, Ludicrous - Hacky's Wine Bar
Another one from Dull Is The New Interesting, their first release in ages.

Cover Version Corner
Kraftwerk/Gulp vs Miaoux Miaoux - Tour de France
Topical innit. Gulp is the side project of Super Furry Animals bassist Guto Pryce and has teamed up with Glaswegian producer Miaoux Miaoux for this update of the 1983 Kraftwerk classic. One of the better covers I think we've ever featured.

Menace Beach - Super Transporterreum
Not resting on their laurels following the debut LP Ratworld, this is the title track from a new EP. And is splendid.

Girls Names - A Hunger Artist
How good is that? They're from Belfast and the album is Arms Around A Vision.

Ultimate Painting - (I've Got The) Sanctioned Blues
Seeing the humour in getting a parking ticket, this is off Green Lanes which is out now.

Trust Fund - Dreams
And they just keep on coming. From Bristol, these, and this is their new single.

Swells - Banal
Another band from Bandung in Indonesia which is some sort of hotbed of musical genius. I'm sure banal doesn't mean that in the local language and this sure ain't. Clearly influenced by 1990s Manchester and that can't be a bad thing.

Tom Robinson - Don't Jump, Don't Fall
The first new stuff from Robinson in 20 years, this is off the album Only The Now. The single is raising money for CALM - the Campaign Against Living Miserably - which raises awareness of male suicide, the biggest killer of men aged 20-45 in this country. You know, because we're big idiots who don't talk about stuff. Powerful stuff.

One Degree of Separation
OMD - Electricity
The Avalanches - Electricity
Just the titles that link them. Can you believe that's OMD's debut from 1979? Still sounds fresh. The Avalanches simply because it's an age since I played anything by them. That's off 2000's Since I Left You.

Malcolm Middleton and David Shrigley - Caveman
Unusual. This is a collaboration between former Arab Strap man Middleton and visual artist Shrigley on an album called, appropriately, Words And Music which came out last December. Words by the latter, music by the former.

Bullion - Saysah!
Hugely retro stuff from the EP Rooster which is out now.

Dementio13 - A New Economic Freedom
6 minutes of brilliance from the album This Is Civilisation which came out last month.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



Although the dementio13 track is on neither. Follow the link above.

And I think that'll do it for a few weeks. I need a break. I will return.

14 July 2015

Yep. Still here.

Flux Pavilion - Blow The Roof
Start with a bang. Off the album of the same name that came out in 2013, Flux Pavilion is Joshua Steele from Towcester.

Evans The Death - Terrified
Odd name for a band, but hey ho. And a band rather than a single person. And a cracking tune. Off Expect Delays that came out in March.

The HolyDrug Couple - French Movie Theme
I don't think we've had anything from Chile before. Might have - not sure. Anyway, that's where these are from. Moonlust is the album and serves to remind me that I still fancy doing an all-instrumental show one day.

Cover Version Corner
Jimi Hendrix/The Cure - Purple Haze
Not the greatest cover, I grant you. That's off a compilation called Stone Free: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix which features a number of artists covering his tunes. Before that, unmistakeably Hendrix. Nothing else has ever sounded quite like that. Off 1967's Are You Experienced.

Sleaford Mods - No-one's Bothered
Another one from the new LP Key Markets. Go get it.

Shopping - Why Wait?
More social commentary from the album Why Choose? which comes out in October. Good tune too.

Autobahn - Society
And yet more social commentary. From Leeds this time. And probably record of the week. Dissemble is the new album and it's out at the back end of August.

Bully - Trying
To Nashville now. Not the greatest name for a band, but what a great voice. Their debut album is called Feels Like and came out late last month.

Dymaxion Groove - The Greatest Power
Baltimore now and Jad Fair and Jason Willett from seminal post-punk outfit Half Japanese have their own side project and this is it. The album is of the same name and is out in September.

Kingsley Chapman and The Murder - Lovers
This is great. Teessider Chapman, ex of the Chapman Family, with a splendid bit of song writing. A hint of the Nick Caves about it, in the very nicest sense of the term.

One Degree of Separation
Paul Smith and The Intimations - Break Me Down
Nano Kino - Eyes Before Words
And staying in the north-east, two records from Maximo Park members. Front-man Smith has a new LP, Contradictions, out in August. Nano Kino's self-titled album came out in March. And why not - spread your wings, try something different and then come back together for the day job.

Lanks - Hole Me Closer
Melbourne's Will Cuming is Lanks and the EP Thousand Piece Puzzle came out last month.

Victories At Sea - Up
This really is ace. They're from Birmingham and this comes from an EP called In Memory Of. A bit retro, a bit New Order at times, and yet entirely contemporary.

LV - Jump And Reach
And we finish with a collaboration between London producer LV and Armenian pianist Tigran Hammasyan. Unusual combination, outstanding results.

Here's your YouTube selection:



and Soundcloud:



More next week as usual.

7 July 2015

July already? Let's do this.

Hotgothic - Smackuout
Energetic and punchy, as befits something off an EP called Punchline.

Brawlers - Annabel
And continuing the short and punchy theme, a new single from this Leeds band off the album Romantic Errors Of Our Youth.

Nai Harvest - Ocean Of Madness
And again. Sheffield this time and the LP is Hairball.

Cover Version Corner
Jacques Brel - Au Suivant
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Next
I remember seeing the Alex Harvey Band perform that on The Old Grey Whistle Test. It was bonkers. That's off the 1973 album Next and is an English translation of Au Suivant, Jacques Brel's anti-military record from 1966 and the album Les Bonbons.

Sleaford Mods - Tarantula Deadly Cargo
Finally, a track I can play in the 7pm slot. The hype is justified, they are the most important band in the country right now and the new LP Key Markets is out on Friday.

Christian Fitness - The Harder It Hits
Side-project of Future Of The Left front man Andy Falkous. Following on from the album I'm Scared Of Everything That I'm Not, a new single. Record of the week, I reckon. Love it.

Sauna Youth - The Bridge
And another track from the frankly brilliant Sauna Youth from their album Distractions.

Ought - The Weather Song
This dates back from last year. They're from Montreal and it sounds like Jonathan Richman in ways to me. And that's never a bad thing. More Than Any Other Day is the LP.

Fufanu - Circus Life
Iceland now and something from their EP Adjust To The Light. Something a bit different.

Asian Dub Foundation - The Signal And The Noise
I love this lot. A new album, More Signal, More Noise, is out on Friday. Still great.

One Degree of Separation
Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro
SWR - Close The Dam
The link should be obvious from the moment you realise that SWR stands for Shaun William Ryder. That's his first solo release for about a decade and it's bloody good. You don't need reminding that Kinky Afro was on Pills N Thrills And Bellyaches, still one of the most significant records of the last 25 years.

Shitwife - High Octane Party Banger
Splendid stuff and there's an album coming. Called Big Lad, it's out on August 28.

Lesbian Horse - 30 Seconds (Could Save The Universe)
These are a mystery. They're from London, but that's all I've got. They're also prolific and also also splendid in the turntablist style. Just fantastic.

AFX - Serge Fenix Rendered 2
After hiding away for so long, Richard D James - Aphex Twin to you - is suddenly prolific and has a new record out in the guise of AFX. Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-2008 is the title. Of course it is.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



Back next week.